Should I buy a powerbook with 4200 HD now, or wait for more info on the 5400?

[maise]

I am buy a powerbook no matter what but I am having trouble deciding whether to get the 5400 or 4200, money is not a problem either way. I need the computer to last for as long as possible, but I also would like the battery to last for as long as possible. I dont know if the scrafice in battery life is worth additional longevity in its lifespan. To complicate things, I need the computer delivered by October 9th at the latest, so I do not know if I should just order it with the 5400 now, or wait till more information about models with the 5400 are released. What do you think I should do?

[hugemullens]

I would say go with the 4200 rpm, take that extra you save, add a few bucks and get a good external firewire drive. They are faster, larger, more flexible, and just generally kick butt.

[maise]

does anyone have any information on the 5400 drive?

[Golem]

This was discussed in another thread. Sorry no link. The best guess seemed to be it was a fairly nice IBM unit but no one knew for sure.

As for best upgrade option the general concensus was as hugemullen said get a really good drive if you need the speed and put it in a fw800 enclosure or swap them and put old drive on firewire.

[beefstu01]

4200 is good enough for me. Why?

1) It's got an 8 Meg cache (really nice)
2) It's cheaper
3) It's huge
4) It's got the answer to life, the universe, and everything in it's first two digits. How perfect!

I wouldn't sweat it too much, but hey, if you're not in a hurry to get the PowerBook, then wait a week. Most BTO models will be out of Apple's doors by Tuesday, so we'll be getting benchmarks up the wazoo this weekend. If you're in desperate need of a laptop, get the 4200. I don't think the difference is that noticable... Somewhere on MacNN there was an indepth comparison between the two drives, and the 5400 drained a lot more power and didn't transfer files much faster.

[solvs]

Accelerate Your Mac (http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/) has comparisons on the 4200, 5400. and 7200 drives. If speed is important, get a 7200. If battery life is, get the 4200 (and an extra battery). The 5400 is a little faster for a lot less battery life. So ultimately... it's up to you.

The external 7200 drive is the best idea, but then you have to drag it around and plug it in.